After we arrived at the minbak, we changed clothes and headed to the beach. Alas, the weather was rather gloomy and cool for August. But, we braved the cold water and wind to spend a few hours at the beach. The kids were back in their element. It was a lot of fun to see them play.
The Sokcho lighthouse is a tourist attraction of the area. We wanted to climb the stairs and pay a visit, but the lighthouse was closed for renovations. We simply admired it from afar.
For Oliver and Ronan, the water was a bit too cold Oliver compensated by running after the waves and letting the waves chase him. Ronan decided he'd wait on the beach with his inner-tube until the water came to him.
Overall, Oliver appeared to enjoy the sand the most. He created a few masterpieces that were all in danger of being destroyed by anyone within the area. He was quite the little guardian of his work. I tried to get him to smile for the camera with his art work, but he said, "No, I'm working. I need to focus." Hmmm, where have I heard that before...(mommy guilt seeping in).
Dahin braved the water and actually swam a bit in the ocean. I joined her for a bit, but could only take so much. She was determined to get SOMEONE in the water with her. Mostly, I just stood in waist-deep water and watched her bob around. Really wish the weather had been more cooperative. I think the waters are usually pretty chilly, but not as chilly as the SF Bay area waters. I could at least go into the water here. Would have felt fabulous on a hot, sunny day. One thing that surprised me was the water quality: clear, clean, cool water of aqua blue, emerald in spots. Just beautiful. Not the murky waters I was expecting. Good thing--we've seen a lot of recent stories about great whites and hammerheads 'beaching themselves' (yeah right; hello overzealous fisherpeople) on beaches (mostly on west coast--with the pollution from China, doesn't surprise me the sharks are wanting out). Nice to have a clear view of what's around you.Those obnoxious boards on the ground near our feet were advertisements for boat rentals. You'd think one board or even two would suffice, but there were about 10 boards placed the ground to make sure people noticed. Koreans don't waste advertising space, that's for sure. Just wish there was more room on the beach to enjoy the sand unimpeded.
Dahin tried in vain to get apa to join her. He got as far as the water's edge before turning around ad returning to his natural habitat and position. She put a good effort into making it work, though, which is why I think she looks so disappointed.
Ronan collected seashells constantly. Very picky, too. Many of the shells I found for him were just not good enough. We tried finding shells big enough so that we could hear the ocean in them, but all we really found were these clam shells. Ronan was excited, anyway.
After showering, we headed to the Sokcho central market to get some dinner. The place is a massive maze of fish, veggie, fruit, grain stalls, clothing stores, houseware sellers, etc. We found our way to the bottom level where we settled in for a dinner of clam soup, raw fish, and mae-eun tang (spicy fish stew).
The kids have mastered chopsticks by now. They surprised me by really diving into this soup. They loved the challenge of getting the clams out of their shells (really not that much of a challenge, but takes some dexterity with chopsticks).
Jack and I enjoyed a raw fish platter created from fish we picked from buckets at the restaurant. Swimming one minute, dinner the next.
Because the kids are not that into hoe (raw fish), we supplemented with some fried squid, rice, and lettuce (they wrapped their rice in the lettuce).
After dinner, we headed to another fish market. This is the market in which you can eat the fresh catches right by the ocean. It was very busy that night, so glad we had chosen to eat at the sijang instead. Below, the market's lights are reflected in the water.
Some of the highlights of the market included checking out all the tanks full of king crabs, squid, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and all kinds of fish. We witnessed a fish escape. It leapt/leaped (too tired to look up which is correct) out of its tank. onto a pile of dried fish, jumped around for a while until hitting the payment. It flopped around for a while until I couldn't watch it anymore. I kept waiting for someone with a net to run along and get the fish back to its tank. Thought of trying to catch it with my hands but 1) knew that I could not make that one work and 2) didn't want to be the stupid foreigner catching a fish in the market (get enough stares as it is). When we headed back that way a little later, the fish was no longer on the walkway so I am guessing the fish tank owner person took care of it.
Jack and the kids' favorite: fried anything. We bought some deep fried shrimp and squid and chased the snacks down with some slushies and iced coffee (the latter for the grownups).
After our fish market snack, we headed to a well-known lookout point with lots of swirling lights and pagodas. It seems that, for most beach-side attractions, nature is not good enough. Gotta add swirling lights.
The highlight for the kids? Roman candles and sparklers. Yes, we added to that 'natural' feel of the place by adding more flashing lights and making a lot of smoke. Here, Ronan displays one of his prizes. After working on apa for a while, he finally caved in and got the fireworks. Jack, of course, fired them off, but the kids had a blast watching. Seems that is the thing to do at the pier as their were fireworks sellers all over the place and many families doing just what we were doing.
We couldn't leave the pier, of course, without getting some of those neon light-thingies.
The final stop was a view from the largest pagoda and one of the highest lookout points. There, we watched the white foam of the waves and listened to the ocean for a while.
After enjoying the views. we piled into the car and headed to our room where we finally crashed around 11 pm. Day 2 coming soon....
Dahin tried in vain to get apa to join her. He got as far as the water's edge before turning around ad returning to his natural habitat and position. She put a good effort into making it work, though, which is why I think she looks so disappointed.
Ronan collected seashells constantly. Very picky, too. Many of the shells I found for him were just not good enough. We tried finding shells big enough so that we could hear the ocean in them, but all we really found were these clam shells. Ronan was excited, anyway.
After showering, we headed to the Sokcho central market to get some dinner. The place is a massive maze of fish, veggie, fruit, grain stalls, clothing stores, houseware sellers, etc. We found our way to the bottom level where we settled in for a dinner of clam soup, raw fish, and mae-eun tang (spicy fish stew).
The kids have mastered chopsticks by now. They surprised me by really diving into this soup. They loved the challenge of getting the clams out of their shells (really not that much of a challenge, but takes some dexterity with chopsticks).
Jack and I enjoyed a raw fish platter created from fish we picked from buckets at the restaurant. Swimming one minute, dinner the next.
Because the kids are not that into hoe (raw fish), we supplemented with some fried squid, rice, and lettuce (they wrapped their rice in the lettuce).
After dinner, we headed to another fish market. This is the market in which you can eat the fresh catches right by the ocean. It was very busy that night, so glad we had chosen to eat at the sijang instead. Below, the market's lights are reflected in the water.
Some of the highlights of the market included checking out all the tanks full of king crabs, squid, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and all kinds of fish. We witnessed a fish escape. It leapt/leaped (too tired to look up which is correct) out of its tank. onto a pile of dried fish, jumped around for a while until hitting the payment. It flopped around for a while until I couldn't watch it anymore. I kept waiting for someone with a net to run along and get the fish back to its tank. Thought of trying to catch it with my hands but 1) knew that I could not make that one work and 2) didn't want to be the stupid foreigner catching a fish in the market (get enough stares as it is). When we headed back that way a little later, the fish was no longer on the walkway so I am guessing the fish tank owner person took care of it.
Jack and the kids' favorite: fried anything. We bought some deep fried shrimp and squid and chased the snacks down with some slushies and iced coffee (the latter for the grownups).
After our fish market snack, we headed to a well-known lookout point with lots of swirling lights and pagodas. It seems that, for most beach-side attractions, nature is not good enough. Gotta add swirling lights.
The highlight for the kids? Roman candles and sparklers. Yes, we added to that 'natural' feel of the place by adding more flashing lights and making a lot of smoke. Here, Ronan displays one of his prizes. After working on apa for a while, he finally caved in and got the fireworks. Jack, of course, fired them off, but the kids had a blast watching. Seems that is the thing to do at the pier as their were fireworks sellers all over the place and many families doing just what we were doing.
We couldn't leave the pier, of course, without getting some of those neon light-thingies.
The final stop was a view from the largest pagoda and one of the highest lookout points. There, we watched the white foam of the waves and listened to the ocean for a while.
After enjoying the views. we piled into the car and headed to our room where we finally crashed around 11 pm. Day 2 coming soon....
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